Il Milan makes a shot from the Champions League, Inter falls for the umpteenth time. The day just ended ends with the great victory of the Rossoneri over theAtalanta, but also for the Nerazzurri's knockout in Bologna: the result is that the fight for the remaining three places for the Europe that counts (Napoli, ça va sans dire, is out of competition) is more tangled than ever, given that Lazio and Rome they have yet to play against Sampdoria (20.45) and Cremonese (tomorrow at 18.30). Pioli thus finds a success that definitively closes the January crisis, Inzaghi instead falls back into the usual mistake of losing against a medium-small team, after winning a big game.
Milan - Atalanta 2-0, Pioli celebrates: "We are healed, but we should have closed it sooner"
Milan knew that this could be a decisive match, in one sense or another, because one misstep would have erased all the good done in the last three games. Mission accomplished, moreover in a direct clash against an Atalanta team that promised fire and flames and which instead, thanks to the great Rossoneri performance, was completely annihilated, much more than the 2-0 final says. The Devil, in fact, had the only mistake of not closing the match early, missing chances with Leao, Giroud and Messias, before the Brazilian himself found the final 2-0 goal (86'), but the performance was excellent , the best of this 2023 so far stingy with satisfaction.
La fourth consecutive victory with the attached clean sheet it is explained with the new game system, a solid and hermetic 3-4-3, but also with a newfound psycho-physical form that has the main architect in Pioli: while on social networks the hashtag against in fact, the person concerned worked hard, finding a way to restore certainties to a group that seemed to have dissolved and which instead only needed technical-tactical help. The rest was done by the plays, such as that of Theo Hernandez on the occasion of the first goal: a fearsome left-footed volley, which does not enter the scores only for a deflection by Musso after the touch on the post (25 '). “We should have closed it earlier, but it was a great performance from the team – he explained Pioli at the press conference -. We played it with the energy that I recognize in my players. The important thing was to give continuity, we had never won 4 in a row this season and we knew the difficulties of playing against Atalanta. We worked hard and managed the ball well, even if it's clear that we still need to score a lot of points to get to the top 4. The team is healed, then we will never be perfect but let's go back to playing with our characteristics. There was nothing to fix, because there were never any doubts about cohesion, the defeats took away our confidence and then came performances below our capabilities: the victories, on the other hand, gave us the will to do things for the better. Well".
Milan - Atalanta 2-0, Gasperini admits: "Milan were of a superior dimension"
Opposite mood at Atalanta, where we have to deal with a heavy defeat, which quite clearly pushes away the dreams of the Champions League. "Atalanta is this and they gave everything, we tried in every way, but the dimension of Milan was superior to ours - he admitted Gasperini -. Let's take a cue from this game and think about the next match against Udinese, we can still keep a good gap from our pursuers. Despite the effort, Milan had something more than us, we suffered a bit from their aggressiveness, and on a technical level we could have done better. We're not even lucky, we conceded on the first shot and then we got into trouble…".
Bologna - Inter 1-0, Inzaghi bitter: "We need to do more in these matches"
Black Sunday instead at Inter, where you have to deal with yet another misstep on the field of an inferior opponent, at least on paper. Because then the match said something else, given that Bologna would have deserved the advantage already in the first half, well before Orsolini's decisive goal (76'). A clear step backwards compared to Wednesday against Porto, for a film already seen several times this season: after the victories over Napoli and Milan (in the Super Cup and championship), in fact, the slip-ups with Monza, Empoli and Sampdoria had arrived. This is how Inzaghi ends up once again in the dock, guilty of not transmitting enough motivation to a qualitatively strong group, but unable to feed itself every three days. “We're angry, we came from a tough match in the Champions League with injuries and tiredness, but we had to do more – admitted Inzaghi in the press conference -. You have to look for reasons every two or three days, it's not the first time, it's already happened to us. In front of our fans we have an excellent path, away from home instead it is insufficient and this is a significant fact. We analyzed it and talked about it with the boys, unfortunately now we've eaten up the advantage we had over the others in the standings”.
Hard Lautaro: "So we're not going anywhere, we apologize"
Much tougher Lautaro Martinez, who as a good captain put his face into it by making a heavy self-criticism, obviously on behalf of the team. “So we're not going anywhere, we have to change our image and have more continuity – he thundered in front of the microphones-. The victory in the Champions League had given us a lot of energy and instead we came here and put in this performance. Bologna are a great team, they did better than us and deservedly won. But we have to raise our level, play the same way as against Porto. Today I'm here to apologize to all the fans and to all the people who always support us."
Lazio – Sampdoria (20.45 pm, Dazn and Sky Sport)
The 24th day will continue today with two more matches (Verona-Fiorentina at 18.30, Lazio-Sampdoria at 20.45), to then conclude tomorrow with Cremonese-Roma and Juventus-Turin. The attention of the high rankings is directed above all to the Olympic match, given that the biancocelesti have the opportunity to grab fourth place, albeit awaiting the response of the Giallorossi cousins. In front there will be a Sampdoria desperately looking for salvation points, but Lazio cannot fail, on pain of saying goodbye to their Champions League ambitions. What worries Sarri are the post-Europe efforts, which have already cost his creature so many points in the past: the coach hopes to have found the right recipe to overcome them and thus give himself a top start to the week. Compared to Cluj there will be some news for a 4-3-3 with Provedel in goal, Marusic, Patric, Casale and Hysaj in defence, Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi and Luis Alberto in midfield, Felipe Anderson, Immobile and Pedro (Zaccagni is not at his best, but will still go bench) in attack. Stankovic, a former player always loved on the Lazio side of the Tiber, will respond with a 3-4-1-2 with Audero between the posts, Amione, Nuytinck and Murillo in the back, Leris, Winks, Cuisance and Augello in the midfield, Djuricic behind the offensive couple formed by Gabbiadini and Lammers.
